


Fair Use is Fair Play

by papersandals (laronmi)



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Second-Hand Embarrassment, no actual flynn/yuri but there's at least one person shipping them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 18:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18321218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laronmi/pseuds/papersandals
Summary: By complete mistake, Estelle ends up buying a romance novel between two characters that very strongly resemble Flynn and Yuri. Reading about the fictional love life of two of her best friends is already bad enough, but when Estelle learns that the novel has become the latest hit in the empire, she takes it upon herself to let at least Flynn know before he learns from...well, anyone else.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place about five years after the end of the game. Estelle is 23, and Rita is 20.

Estelle would later go on to state that she would have never picked up the book if she knew what it was about. As it was, in the bookstore, she saw only the tasteful cover of two swords laying side by side, the blurb about a great love story that would be tested through the flames of war, and the enthusiastic recommendation that one of the booksellers had given her. It had been a while since she indulged in romantic fiction, and so she bought the book, expecting another sweet, if not cookie cutter, romance novel.

When she returned home to the little cottage she shared with Rita, she put away the rest of the groceries she had picked up, kissed Rita on top of her head as the latter muttered a distracted hello before going back to the lengthy page of numbers she was working on, and then settled in the comfy chair she bought just for reading. It was large enough for her to draw her legs up onto, soft enough for her to sit in for hours, and most importantly, placed right next to the window that got the most sunlight in the mornings.

The main characters were two men, which Estelle didn't mind and quite enjoyed reading about, as the different perspective only made it more interesting. The names of the two main characters, however, made her chuckle. The main character was named Finn, and the man clearly set up to be his love interest was named Yorick. 

They were childhood friends who became knights during a period of great conflict and war. Thrust into the battlefield after being newly recruited, the two of them made a name for themselves thanks to Finn's strength and charisma and Yorick's cunning and determination. The two of them had always been close, but as they progressed through the war, their bond became even closer, and Finn, at least, developed romantic feelings for his friend.

Of course, as they received promotions and became privy to details about the war, they began to differ in ideology. Finn wanted only to defend his land and protect his people, believing that the war could end with a treaty and truce. Yorick, on the other hand, believed that the best thing would be to push into the heart of the enemy empire and strike down the emperor. Yorick did not believe the emperor would be stopped with a treaty, and thought the only way to attain peace was to slay him. Their differences drove them apart, culminating when Yorick killed an unrepentant prisoner of war who had tortured and massacred many of their side, but was offering information in exchange for his life. Finn caught him in the act, and when confronted, Yorick chose to desert, leaving Finn behind.

That was the first time Estelle had to put the book down. She assumed that the names Finn and Yorick had been a coincidence, as were their personalities, but the clash of their ideologies and Yorick murdering a cruel man in power was too on the nose to be a coincidence. Estelle took a break, made a cup of tea, and sipped it slowly. She wasn't even a quarter of the way through the novel. Surely she was over complicating things.

She continued reading. Finn reported the murder and the desertion, despite the heavy burden it placed on his heart. Alone, he fought and supported his fellow soldiers as best he could, eventually gaining authority to command. This offered him no happiness, and his life was only complicated further when it was revealed that the youngest daughter of the enemy emperor, Celeste, was a mole who had betrayed her father and was feeding information to his enemies. The emperor, as it turned out, was not only cruel and ruthless to his enemies, but also to his own people and his own family. Celeste was willing to go to any lengths, even if it meant betraying her nation, to get rid of her father and stop the war. Finn was tasked with guarding her and being her point of contact.

To make things worse for Finn, he then found out through Celeste that Yorick was actually her older half brother and a bastard prince of the empire. The emperor had killed Yorick's mother when he found out that she gave birth to a bastard son, then exiled Yorick from the nation while he was young. His current plans and location was unknown to her, and Finn felt his heart break as he realized why Yorick was so adamant about killing the emperor. Then Celeste was found out and kidnapped by the empire, leaving Finn to chase after her abductors into the heart of the empire itself.

Estelle had to put the book down again. Noon had come and passed, and she desperately needed a break and food. She also needed some distance to consider if she was onto something about the characters. Celeste's kidnapping was eerily similar to what she had to go through, and something about the way she was written reminded Estelle uncomfortably about what the empire still saw her as — sweet, stubborn, and utterly naive. Furthermore, the more she read, the more Estelle was convinced that Finn and Yorick were meant to be Flynn and Yuri thrown into some sort of world where things had managed to be even worse than they had been in reality.

She chopped some vegetables absentmindedly, throwing together a quick salad before pulling out ingredients for a sandwich, when Rita showed up fuming in their kitchen, hair a mess of tangles and mouth flattened into a thin line of displeasure.

"I spent five hours going over the formula those idiots sent me to look over," she began without any preamble or greeting, marching angrily to their cupboard to pull out two plates, "and kept getting nowhere. Well, I finally checked and rechecked the initial data they sent me, and guess what? It's wrong." She took out a pair of tongs and began doling out salad in the most aggravated manner Estelle had ever seen anyone take towards lettuce. "I've wasted half of my day on that crap, and they can't even bother to send me the right numbers!"

Estelle handed the sandwich she just made to Rita, then started on another one as Rita continued to rant, interjecting with "Really?", "Oh, no," and "How?" at the right time. They sat down at their wooden kitchen table, golden sunlight pouring through the slats of their kitchen blinds and infusing the room with a honeyed glow. Rita sighed.

"Thanks for listening to me rant," she said. "How was your day?"

Estelle poked a cherry tomato. "It went well. I went shopping in the morning, and then I stopped by The Scribe on my way back."

Rita picked up her sandwich. "Did you pick up anything new?"

Estelle nodded as Rita took her first bite. "I did. Only one book. It's a romance novel, but, um."

Rita started laughing as she chewed, and Estelle pouted. "It's not erotica! A-at least not yet. I'm not through with it, but it's been very chaste so far!"

Rita snickered, finally swallowing before wiping her mouth with a napkin. She set the sandwich down and smirked at Estelle, mischief lighting her eyes. "Sorry, I just remembered your face when you realized last time what you'd gotten. I didn't know you could turn so red!"

"Rita! I-I wasn't expecting it to be so raunchy so soon! I could have handled it if I was prepared!"

Rita gave her a flat look that spoke volumes, and Estelle flicked the tomato at her. It hit Rita on the nose, then fell and rolled around on her plate. 

"Really?" Rita said, picking up the tomato with her fingers. "I don't think you could have. You never read anything past that, did you?"

Estelle slumped. "No. But that doesn't matter! This new book isn't erotic, it's just...weird."

"In a bad way?" Rita asked, popping the tomato in her mouth. Estelle shook her head again.

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but two of the main characters remind me of Yuri and Flynn," Estelle said, feeling suddenly much more embarrassed. "They're, uh, the main romantic couple."

Rita rolled her eyes. "Oh, boy. I see why you're uncomfortable about it now. All right, tell me about the characters. I want to see how much they're like those two blockheads we know."

Over their late lunch, Estelle told her about the book and the characters. Rita, it seemed, was more skeptical of the connection than Estelle was, which was relieving in a way. But when Estelle got to Celeste, Rita's brow suddenly furrowed and did not unfurrow when Estelle caught her up to where she had stopped reading.

"Huh," Rita said as she stared at her empty plate. "So, this Celeste character... Is she...?"

"Oh, good," Estelle said, a wave of relief washing through her. "You think so too?"

"I mean, I haven't read the book or anything, so I can't say for certain, but with what you're telling me?" She crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. "And the stuff with Finn and Yorick, too. It's just a little too similar in all the right ways, isn't it?"

"Yes," Estelle cried, letting the relief of not being the only one propel her out of the seat and towards Rita. She hugged her, practically climbing into her lap in the process, and Rita oofed and quickly moved her arms and stabilized her feet to prevent the two of them from toppling out of the chair.

"Come on, Estelle, give a little warning when you do that!" Though her tone was annoyed, Rita still put her arms around Estelle and hugged her back, burying her face — warm from embarrassment — on top of Estelle's head. "What if you tipped the chair over?"

Estelle smiled and soaked in Rita's warmth and presence, cheek pressed against where Rita's heart was. "Mmm, but you didn't let us. And anyway," she added, pulling back just enough to be able to look at Rita's red, red face, "I'm so happy to hear that I'm not over thinking it. Whoever wrote the book really did base it on us, didn't they?"

"P-probably," Rita said. She was looking away as she always did when she was feeling overwhelmed, but she didn't move to pull away. "How far along are you again?"

"About half way. Do you want to read it with me?"

Rita sighed, and Estelle leaned into the motion of her body exhaling. "I wish I could," Rita said, brushing some of Estelle's hair back, "but I have to send all that incorrect data back and yell at the boneheads who didn't double check their work."

"I understand." Estelle leaned up and kissed Rita on the cheek. "Don't beat them up too badly."

"Hah!" Rita said, flushed face not at all matching the vindictive force behind her words. "I'll try not to hurt them too badly. I need them to fix their mistakes, after all."

Rita stuck around long enough to help Estelle clean up. Though the sun was on the other side of the house, Estelle returned to the chair and the book, curling up a little closer to the window to get the most of the afternoon sun. In the novel, Finn had managed to make it to the capital with only a small brigade of men. They fought through the forces stationed there, making their way to the top. There, the emperor held Celeste hostage with a sword to her throat, and Yorick stood by his side.

Although his main goal was to save Celeste, Finn found himself dumbstruck by Yorick's presence, especially since the man was standing by the father he apparently hated. The emperor gloated about his son returning to his senses and understanding his proper place, and between the risk to Celeste and Yorick's presence, Finn was forced to surrender. The emperor then commanded Yorick to strike Finn down, but at the last moment, Yorick turned on his father, stabbing him through the heart and freeing his sister. 

Yorick then explained to Finn that he had joined his father's side to find an opportunity to turn on him. However, in doing so, he himself had become a villain that was beyond saving, performing evil deeds to win his father's trust. In fact, it was he who manipulated Finn by telling his father where Celeste was, knowing that Finn would follow. He told Finn to take credit for killing the evil emperor and to wed Celeste and unite the two lands, but Finn refused, asking how Yorick could suggest such a thing when Finn was in love with him.

Yorick rejected his confession, saying that a criminal such as himself had no right to be loved by someone as noble as Finn, and Estelle put down the book once again. She walked around the cottage, tidying up where it was needed, and thought about the book once more. The sun was beginning to set, and she remembered a moment in Aurnion during their journey all those years ago, of a sunset where she watched, secretly, Flynn and Yuri have a dual, ready to jump in with healing in case either of them went a little too far. She never once had to step in, thankfully, but she still overheard more than she was meant to.

Yorick and Finn were Yuri and Flynn. There was no longer any doubt of that in her mind. The question that remained, then, was who had written the book, and how had they come to learn so many of the details that defined not only their relationship, but also parts of their journey as well. She couldn't imagine the writer being either one of them, but when she read the author's blurb, she was certain that the author was hiding behind a pseudonym. 

So who? And how? Even Estelle herself wasn't supposed to have known some of the emotional beats that the book touched on.

When she finally calmed down enough to return to the novel, the sun had set. She lit candles and oil lamps and settled in with a blanket, determined to make it to the end. 

Yorick and Finn argued only a little bit more before Celeste intervened, pleading with her brother to let her explain to the people why he had done the things he had done. She stated no desire to wed Finn, and instead told him of how Finn had worried and anguished over Yorick's whereabouts. Despite this, Yorick fled in the chaos after the discovery of the emperor's death, leaving Finn heartbroken once more. 

The novel then focused on the aftermath of the emperor's death for a few chapters, with Celeste leading the talks for peace and recovery. Finn assisted as a liaison, and was quickly promoted to not only being a commander, but also a diplomat. He was given a noble title, and while he should have been happy, he felt hollow from Yorick's absence. One night, however, as he slept in his own bed for the first time in months, someone slipped into his room. It was Yorick, wanting to put his affairs at rest before repenting for all of his crimes. Finn, furious that Yorick was seeking out his own death, laid out all of his feelings for his longtime friend. Yorick, too, finally divulged that he loved Finn, and the two of them shared a tender first kiss in the moonlight.

The kiss became heated, and Estelle desperately hoped that the author would fade to black when the words, "hot, throbbing member," appeared on the page. She threw the book to the side and covered her warm, flushed face with her hands before letting out a small shriek of embarrassment.

Of course Rita chose that time to return home.

"Estelle? Are you all right?! I heard screaming." Her running steps shook the cottage floors, but Estelle could not yet uncover her face. "What's the matter?"

Estelle shook her head, hoping that Rita could see that she was fine and only suffering from embarrassment. She felt Rita lay a calloused hand top of her head and stroke her hair, and she managed to squeak out, "The book—!"

"The book?" Rita repeated. "What's happened in the book?"

"It did turn into erotica," Estelle wailed, face growing hotter. Rita stopped stroking her head and burst into laughter. 

"Are you serious?! Wait— Are Flynn and Yuri—"

" _Finn and Yorick_ ," Estelle said, spreading her fingers so she could look at Rita through them. "They— I thought it was going to fade to black!"

Rita laughed so hard she nearly collapsed on top of Estelle. 

"It's not funny," Estelle said as Rita sat squished between her and the arm of the chair, leaning heavily on Estelle and laughing into her shoulder. "They aren't just like Flynn and Yuri, they are them! I can't— I can't finish that!"

"Oh," Rita wheezed, one hand holding Estelle's waist and the other going up to pull Estelle's hands off her face, "this is amazing. You read about Flynn and Yuri—"

" _ **Finn and Yorick!**_ "

"—having sex in a fictional novel. You spent all day getting to this point, didn't you?"

Estelle let Rita pull her hands away and nodded miserably. "I did. It's well written, but I just— I can't read about Flynn and Yuri—"

"I thought they were Finn and Yorick," Rita said cheekily, and Estelle swatted her lightly on the shoulder.

"—I can't read about them making love!"

Rita broke out into laughter once again, and Estelle pouted at her as she laughed until she was curled up against Estelle's side, snickering into the crook of Estelle's neck. Her breaths tickled Estelle's neck until she squirmed, poking Rita in the side. 

"Okay, okay," Rita said as Estelle poked her in a place she knew where Rita was ticklish, "stop! I'm sorry you had to nearly read about Flynn and Yuri— Sorry,  _Finn and Yorick_  having sex, and it ruined the book for you."

"I just can't believe how close the characters are," Estelle said. "I would have been fine if they weren't so similar."

"Yeah, that is freaky," Rita said, pulling back enough and resettling herself so they sat squished together, side pressed against side. She picked up the book from the floor and flipped through it. "So where's does this not-fade-to-black happen?"

"Towards the end," Estelle said, gloomily showing Rita where it began. "Are you going to read it?"

"I want to see how bad it is," Rita said, then started quickly skimming the page. A few seconds later, she threw the book onto the ground. "Yikes. Yeah, that's explicit. Geeze, they were selling this at The Scribe?"

"Yes."

"Where anyone could buy a copy?"

"Yes."

Rita frowned. "Do Flynn and Yuri know?"

"Oh, no," Estelle said. "Oh,  _no_."

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Estelle decided it would be best to let Flynn know of the book herself. Rita volunteered to go with her to Zaphias, as she had to yell at some of the researchers stationed there as well. The two of them departed early the next morning. The journey from Halure to Deidon Hold was uneventful; the two of them ran into only a few giant bees that were easily dispatched between Estelle's swordplay and Rita's mana artes. They took a quick brunch at the fortress, then were on their way again to the imperial capital.  
  
They both headed towards the castle upon arrival, as the researchers were cooped up in the castle archives, and Estelle was met with warm welcomes and a stack of papers concerning various things related to the empire. She guiltily set them aside in her room, mentally apologized to Ioder for neglecting her duties, then went to ask about Flynn. He was out, according the knights, on a training mission with some of the new recruits on the outskirts of the city. Estelle was assured that he would return later that evening, and so she reluctantly returned to her room in the castle, going over the paperwork that Ioder had set aside for her.  
  
She managed for an hour and a half before she had to stop and step out of the castle for a break.   
  
It had been almost a month since she had stepped foot in Zaphias, and the weeks spent in the lush quiet of Halure, tucked in the cozy cottage she and Rita called home, made the city seem so much busier and larger than she remembered. Her days in Halure was spent in honeyed sunlight, surrounded by the scent of the earth and wood, wrapped in comfort and the slow, easy-going pace of a small town living in harmony with nature. Zaphias, in contrast, was busy. Sights, sounds, smells — all of her senses were bombarded with constant change in a city that remained in perpetual motion. Even the sunlight seemed sharper here, illuminating and bouncing off the stone work, the shadows of people hurrying about dancing through the light. If Halure was a soft, sweet dream, Zaphias was a bustling, energetic adventure. Both were good in their ways, and Estelle would always love Zaphias the most, but after so long, it took her a moment to adjust again.  
  
She walked from the royal quarter to the public quarter. In the early afternoon, the crowds weren't quite so dense, and she took her time to look at the various things for sale. She eventually came across a bookstore that she had frequented many times before, The Whispered Word, and she hesitated before entering, the bell hanging above the door jingling merrily to indicate her presence.   
  
Despite the name, The Whispered Word was not a quiet bookstore. There were plenty of people browsing the shelves — more than The Scribe in Halure could even hold — and others stood or sat at the edges of the store, chatting away about books and life and all manner of things, beams of afternoon sun shining through the windows lighting their faces. The smell of paper and ink was the same as The Scribe, that being the one universal constant in all bookstores, but the smell of fresh wood and flowers was absent in the Whispered Word, built with stone as it was. One of the girls who worked there turned to face Estelle with a greeting, but upon seeing who she was, quickly bowed.  
  
"Your Highness," she said, "what an honor! How may we be of service today?"  
  
"I'm just browsing, thank you," Estelle said. There were so many more books here than The Scribe. The Whispered Word was probably the most popular bookstore in the capital, catering to all sorts of fiction and nonfiction rather than specializing in any particular subject. If one wanted to know the trends in the book industry, this was probably a good place to start. "Um, although I suppose I do have a question. Do you happen to have copies of ' _The Spark of Fury_ ' in stock?"  
  
The clerk's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes, we should have two left! Are you interested in reading it, Your Highness? It's a bestseller! We sold out of the first two shipments!"  
  
That was what Estelle was afraid of. "Oh, no, I have a copy already. I just wanted to know how it was doing and what people thought of it."  
  
"Well, I haven't read it myself, although I might pick up one of the two copies today if they don't sell. I have heard from other people that they enjoyed it a lot. Apparently it's very refreshing, since the novel focuses on the adventure and the characters more than the romance itself, and the world building is supposed to be excellently done. The writing, too, is top notch." The clerk sighed dreamily. "And of course the characters are supposed to be very charming. I've heard so many people swoon over them."  
  
"O-oh," Estelle said weakly, wondering just how many of the readers in Zaphias had already linked Finn to Flynn. "I suppose they are well written..."  
  
"It's so impressive it's the author's first work, too," the clerk continued, oblivious to Estelle's discomfort. "The writing guild that endorsed them seemed to have a lot of faith in their potential. This is a little bit of a secret, but I think no one will blame me for telling you this, Your Highness." The clerk leaned in and cupped a hand against her mouth, whispering conspiratorially to Estelle. "There's supposed to be a sequel out before the end of the year!"  
  
"Oh, no," Estelle said. Then, at the sight of the clerk's confused expression, she backpedaled. "I-I mean, I haven't actually finished the novel yet, and things have gotten really busy. I was hoping for some more time!"  
  
"I understand completely," the clerk said, voice filled with awful, genuine sympathy. "I've been evading them myself, but it's so hard with my job to avoid spoilers... My sympathies, Your Highness."  
  
"Thank you," Estelle said, already backing away from the shop. "I think I might have to take my leave before I get spoiled, however."  
  
"Of course," the clerk said. "Please, stop by once you've finished! Talking with you has made me decide I'll buy a copy of the novel myself today!"  
  
Estelle bit her tongue and forced herself to smile before running out of the shop.  _The Spark of Fury_  was a bestseller. How many books were in a shipment? How many people had read about Finn and Yorick and also came to the same conclusions that she had? How many people read about them  _making love_?!  
  
She walked briskly back to the castle, trying to calm herself down. It wasn't all that likely that people would guess Finn and Yorick were practically Flynn and Yuri. Sure, Yuri was kind of infamous in Zaphias, but other than maybe a few people in the lower quarter, how many people really knew about his insecurities and what his true personality was? And, yes, Flynn was the commandant, had his own fanclub, and was heavily in the public eye, but people saw him primarily as a symbol and an idol rather than a human being. How many people knew about his loyalty and stubbornness the way his friends did? Perhaps Estelle could only tell because she was so close to the two of them.   
  
She told herself this as she entered the castle, barely making it past the door when a knight stopped her to let her know that Flynn had returned and was waiting in his office. Whatever calm she managed to make herself feel dissipated in a flurry of nerves. She thanked the knight, then made a quick stop to her room to grab the book.  
  
She stopped outside Flynn's office door and took a deep breath to settle herself. The door was open a crack, probably left for her, and she knocked on it.  
  
"Come in," she heard Flynn say, and she stuck her head through the door. His face lit up when he saw her, and she felt bad that her visit today was going to be about something so...embarrassing. "Lady Estellise," he said, standing and clearing off some of the paperwork he was reading, even though she had told him time and time again that he didn't need to go to the trouble for her, "how have you been?"  
  
"I've been well," she said, walking and shutting the door behind her. She grasped the book with both hands as she sat down across from him. "Halure's so nice in the spring that I stayed there a little longer than I meant to. Sorry I haven't been back in so long."  
  
"You haven't missed much, I'm afraid. No, I shouldn't say that. We've worked hard for this peace and stability." He sat down again and gave her a kind smile. "But never mind that. What did you want to speak to me about? It didn't sound like you just wanted to catch up."  
  
"About that," Estelle said, toying with the edges of the novel. "This is going to sound really silly, but please bear with me, Flynn. There's...a book."   
  
Estelle hesitated, uncertain of how she wanted to actually approach this, and Flynn must have sensed it, because he askedin a gentle voice: "Is there something that concerns you about this book?"  
  
"Yes," Estelle said. "I thought it was just a series of funny coincidences at first, but the more I read, the more I was certain that, um, the two main characters of this novel are based on you and Yuri."   
  
She slid the novel across the desk, cover up, and Flynn took it, examining the front cover before flipping to the back.  
  
"'In the midst of war and devastation," he read, "'two childhood friends find strength and companionship in one another. Though their shared dream of peace propels them through the war, a wedge in ideologies drives them apart. Despite this, their bonds cannot be so easily severed, and a grand tale of love that endures in the flames of war shall unfold.' Let's see, 'A masterfully written first novel by the mysterious Sue D'Plume, Blooming Love Writer's Guild is proud to publish what will surely become a timeless classic.' Ah, am I correct," Flynn said, just a tinge of red appearing on his cheeks, "that Yuri and I are the two childhood friends that star in this novel?"  
  
Estelle nodded. "Yes, though in the book you're referred to as Finn and Yorick. I know," she said at Flynn's expression, "that it isn't very far from your actual names. But that isn't all that reminds me of you two."   
  
She went over all the similarities that she had noticed while reading, and while Flynn looked mildly perturbed and somewhat embarrassed at the beginning, his expression grew more grim the more she spoke. She trailed off once she got to the part of Finn returning to his home, uncertain if she could get out what happened after that, but Flynn didn't seem to take notice. His brow was deeply furrowed, and he stared at the novel with an intensity that Estelle could feel.  
  
They remained in silence for a few beats before Flynn spoke, speaking slowly and choosing his words with obvious care. "Some of the events that happened five years ago are relatively well known, and I suppose enough time has passed that people would feel safe publishing something inspired by them. However," he said, trailing off into a significant pause, "from what you have told me, some of the motivations and ways that events have unfolded are remarkably similar to our journey." He put his hand on the book. "Lady Estellise, I am concerned, but I cannot make any judgements until I have read this book for myself. Is it all right if I borrowed it?"  
  
"Of course! But, um..." The right thing to do would be to warn him. Estelle did not want Flynn to be caught so unawares by the erotic scene towards the end like she was, yet warning him required her to actually speak of it. "You see..."  
  
Flynn glanced at the book warily before turning to her, eyes filled with concern. "Is there something else I should know about this book?"  
  
Estelle nodded and felt, to her horror, her face turning red. "You see," she started again, trying to force the words out if necessary, "towards the end..."  
  
Flynn waited patiently as she struggled.   
  
"Towards the end, Finn returns home and goes to sleep, but Yorick shows up in the middle of the night and they talk. They reach a point of understanding and—" Inhale. Exhale. Inhale again. Hold. "—andtheyadmittheirfeelingsforeachotherandmakeloveinthemoonlight!"   
  
It took Flynn a few seconds to process what she said, but Estelle could tell immediately when it happened because his face turned such a deep shade of red so quickly that Estelle feared for his health. "W-what?! They— ...In the book?!"  
  
Estelle nodded helplessly.   
  
"I-is the entire book like that?"  
  
"No," she said. "I don't know if the book beyond that part is like that, since I stopped reading as soon as... As soon as the, um, love making started."  
  
"L-love mak—" Flynn cut himself off with a cough and closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nostrils even though Estelle could see him shaking. As she herself was plenty red from embarrassment, Estelle took the opportunity to try and do the same, hoping her flushed face would cool down.  
  
"Thank you," Flynn said in an almost normal tone of voice, eyes still closed, "for the warning. I'll keep that in mind when I get near the end," he added, sounding much more tired.   
  
"Y-yes, I'm, um, glad I could warn you," Estelle said, internally and externally cringing a bit. "That was all I wanted to tell you. I— I should get going. I'm sure Ioder will want to talk to me tomorrow, and I haven't finished going over everything yet."  
  
Flynn dragged the book into a drawer in his desk. "Of course. There is only last thing before you go." He pulled out a stained and heavily wrinkled piece of paper. The edges were torn and rough, and Estelle could make out a faint scrawl of ink leaking through the back. "I received a message from Yuri," Flynn said, and the way he said it told Estelle everything she needed to know about what Flynn thought about Yuri's chosen method of communication. "He's spoken with our other companions, and they're going hoping you and Rita could join us for a reunion in two week's time."  
  
"Of course. Oh, but...should we let them know about the book?"  
  
Flynn sighed heavily and put the note back into his desk. "Assuming they don't already know, I feel it's only fair to at least let Yuri know of what people are writing about us. Not that I'm particularly looking forward to that conversation..."  
  
Estelle felt terrible for feeling relieved. "Good luck, Flynn."   
  
He gave her a wan smile. "I'll need it. Have a good evening, Lady Estellise."   
  
Estelle returned to her room and buried herself in paperwork to distract herself from the lingering embarrassment of her meeting with Flynn. As it turned out, affairs of the state were an excellent distraction, so much so that Estelle forgot to eat dinner. She was only reminded that she skipped dinner when Rita entered her room with a rolling cart filled with food.  
  
"I knew it," Rita said, rolling her eyes affectionately as Estelle stared blankly at her for a few seconds, mouth agape from the shock of not realizing how much time had passed. "C'mere and eat dinner before you pass out."  
  
The two of them set up on Estelle's chaise lounge, using the cart itself as a table when the small end table proved to be insufficient. She had forgotten how nice it was to have access to cooks to prepare meals for her instead of the simple fare they made for themselves in Halure. Over a thick meat stew, baked fish, roasted veggies, and a honey drenched cake, she and Rita exchanged details of their afternoon in Zaphias.  
  
"Damn," Rita said as Estelle finished telling her about her meeting with Flynn, "I'm getting second hand embarrassment just listening to you."  
  
"I don't know how I'm going to be able to look him and Yuri in the eyes when they're together. Even in the meeting, my mind would sometimes drift back to Finn and Yorick."  
  
Rita scooped up the last of the honey on her plate with a spoon. "Give it time. It'll pass from your memories soon enough, I'm sure." She stuck the spoon in her mouth with a contented expression, and Estelle lost her train of thought watching Rita close her eyes and hum happily, slowly drawing the spoon out of her mouth.  
  
"Right," Estelle said once Rita opened her eyes and set the spoon down. She looked at the fork she was holding, which still had a piece of cake on it. She set it down, no longer hungry for food, and got up, wincing when her back twinged. "Ow. I guess I sat for too long."  
  
"I've been there," Rita said, pushing the cart away and getting up as well. "Want to stretch?"  
  
Estelle nodded, and Rita took her hand. They sat on the bed, Rita's back to the headboard and Estelle sitting by the foot of the bed, their feet braced against each other. She leaned forward, arms stretched out, and Rita grabbed her hands and pulled.  
  
"There's one more thing," Estelle said as she stretched as far as she could, feeling the pleasant burn in her calves and her lower back, trusting Rita to provide just the right amount of resistance. "There's going to be a reunion in two weeks in Zaphias. Do you—" A grunt. "—want to stay in Zaphias, or should we go back to Halure?"  
  
"I have to go back, since I told them to send the corrected data there." Rita pulled just a little more and increased the resistance. "And then it'll take me a couple of days to work through that information. I should be done with plenty of time before the two week period. Why? Did you want to stay?"  
  
"I think — oof — I should. I feel kind of — Rita, a little less? Thank you — I feel kind of bad for neglecting my duties for so long."  
  
"I'll try to finish up as fast as I can then," Rita said, then let go at Estelle's request. "I can stay through tomorrow, too, since they won't get that data to me that quickly. Hey, don't fall asleep like that."  
  
Estelle had slumped over once Rita let go, and she felt Rita poke her shoulder. "I wasn't going to," she said, reaching up and going straight for where Rita was ticklish. "I was just catching my breath."  
  
"Hey, watch it! You know I'm— Hahaha, Estelle, stop!" Rita wriggled about, trying to break free, but Estelle just grinned and sat up before grabbing Rita by the waist and dragging her down the bed until she was laying underneath Estelle. She tickled Rita one more time, then settled on top of Rita, hands folded over Rita's chest and chin propped up on top of them so she could look into Rita's eyes.  
  
Rita brushed back some of her hair. "Rita," Estelle said in return, closing her eyes as she felt Rita's fingers trail down the side of her face. "I'm glad you're here with me."  
  
She didn't need to have her eyes open to know Rita's face was turning red. "M-me too," Rita said softly. "I'm still so amazed that I can be with you like this."  
  
Estelle opened her eyes and lifted her head, scooting up until they were face to face. She kissed Rita once softly, then kissed her again with a bit more heat. For some time after that, the two of them forgot about formulas, books, Zaphias, and anything else that wasn't the warmth of each other's bodies and their love for one another.


	3. Chapter 3

Estelle and Rita were having brunch in the gardens with Flynn when they saw Ba'ul in the distance. The day was sunny and bright, which was why Estelle proposed to eat outside at all, and the sunlight was strong and warm on their backs. Amidst the picturesque sky, Ba'ul's form was impossible to miss — a dark, graceful shadow gliding through endless blue, parting the clouds with every stroke of his fins.   
  
Flynn rose almost immediately after Ba'ul was spotted, tossing the last bit of his meal into his mouth as he did so. "Forgive me," he said once he swallowed, gathering his dishes, "but I've some matters to attend to before they land."  
  
At least one of those matters probably pertained to the book, Estelle thought. "All right, we'll see you in a bit."   
  
Flynn nodded at her and Rita before taking off, dishes rattling in his arms even though there was a perfectly serviceable cart the maids could wheel back next to them. Rita snickered once he was out of earshot, mopping up her egg with some toast.  
  
"It's so easy to forget how he can be kind of an airhead. Does he think he's making less work for people if he goes and drops all those dishes?"  
  
"I think it's sweet," Estelle said, watching Ba'ul ever slowly get closer to the capital. "How long do you think it'll be until they land?"  
  
Rita gave a quick glance at Ba'ul before spearing a potato. "Dunno. Maybe half an hour? Enough time to finish eating, at least."  
  
They took their time finishing brunch, and by the time they made it out of Zaphias, Ba'ul was close enough for them to hear his cries. They found a spot on top of a hill, high enough to see the shore line to the west. Estelle sat, not caring about the dampness of the grass or the stains that would come, eyes closed. She breathed in the scent of the grass and trees, the light hints of the ocean carried by the breeze, and basked in the sunlight. The song of birds mingled and mixed with Ba'ul joyous cries, and Estelle listened to them, wondering if Ba'ul could understand the birds as well as he understood people. Rita stood next to her, and Estelle did not need her eyes opened to know that she was looking at Ba'ul and the Fierta.  
  
After a few minutes, she heard footsteps amid the soft grass and the distinct sound of armor. She opened her eyes, squinting from the sudden light, and turned to find Flynn standing next to them.  
  
"Right on time," he said, and his smile was soft. "It's been a while."  
  
"It sure has," Rita said. "It feels like the older we get, the harder it is for us to all come together like this."  
  
"That just makes our reunions all the more precious." Estelle stood and brushed some of the grass off her clothes. A shame, then, that some of it had to be taken up by the book.  
  
Ba'ul dropped the Fierta a fair distance away, but the ship making contact with the ground still sent a gust of wind their way, rustling their clothes and hair. Estelle brushed back her hair and watched as the gangplank dropped. Immediately after, Patty's signature hat and braids came rushing down.  
  
"Ahoy, landlubbers," she said, all energy and excitement as she raced towards them. "Did ye miss me?"  
  
She wasn't wearing her pirate coat, having opted instead for a sensible brown long sleeved tunic tucked into a pair of black pants. Halfway between the hill and the Fierta, she turned around and bellowed, "Come on, what's taking the rest of you so long?"  
  
"Some of us have stuff to carry," Estelle heard Karol yell, and soon enough, his broad, tall form appeared on the edge of the ship. "Some of this stuff is yours, Patty!"  
  
"Just shove it overboard," Estelle heard Yuri shout, despite not being able to see him. "What's in this chest anyway?"  
  
"Treasure," Patty said, then ran all the way up the hill as Karol bent down and tried to lift something out of the ship and onto the gangplank.   
  
When Patty made it to the top, she swooped Rita and Estelle into a hug, managing to get one of them in each arm before spinning around. Estelle laughed, still not used to Patty being taller than her or that physically strong, and Rita shouted complaints as she always did.  
  
When Patty let them go, she turned to Flynn, hands on her waist as she sized him up. "Ye don't look quite as tired as ye usually do," she said approvingly. "Good! Won't do having my rival running around ragged; wouldn't be fair that way."  
  
What Patty had designated Flynn as her rival in was never made clear to Estelle, but Flynn seemed to know. Or, at the very least, he was willing to play along. "Things have finally settled down. I have no complaints about that."  
  
"Can someone give us a hand over here," Karol shouted, one foot on the gangplank and the other braced on the ship's edge. A handle attached to something could be seen poking over the edge. Behind it, Yuri stood scowling. "Patty, seriously, what the heck's in here?"  
  
"Just papers, mostly. It's the chest itself that weighs a ton," Patty shouted back. "Put yer back into it, Karol!"  
  
"Couldn't you have brought a lighter chest?" Karol cried, but he did bend down and try again, Yuri also trying to lift from the other end.  
  
"Perhaps we ought to go assist," Flynn said, and the four of them walked down the hill to the Fierta. Neither Karol nor Yuri made any progress by the time they arrived.  
  
"Come on, old man," Yuri said between grunts. "Give me a hand out here."  
  
Estelle walked up to the bottom of the ship and barely heard Raven's reply. "Yer kiddin' me, right? If a strappin' young man like yaself can't lift that thing, what'dya expect an old man like me to do?"  
  
"Not lay there and be useless?"  
  
"You're expecting too much," Judith said. Estelle couldn't tell where she was, but she heard her say, "Yuri, let's lift from this side. Flynn," she said to Flynn, who was walking up the gangplank, "help Karol."  
  
The four of them managed to get the chest down after some struggle, and once they did, Raven walked serenely down the gangplank, Repede following a short distance away.  
  
"Hey, ya did it! Good job!"  
  
Yuri flipped Raven off as Repede walked up to Flynn, accepting his pets as Flynn caught his breath.  
  
"Hey," Judith said, not looking even a little bit tired, "we're all together again."  
  
"We are," Estelle said, and she did nothing to keep her smile back. "It's good to see you, everyone!"  
  
She went to give everyone hugs, but it soon became a giant group hug, which Estelle had no complaints about. Squished in between Yuri and Judith, she laughed as the group shuffled and complained playfully about being in one another's space. When they all parted, they were all smiling cheerfully at each other, and Estelle reveled in the feeling of their camaraderie and cheer.   
  
And then Flynn pulled Yuri to the side.  
  
"Could I talk to you alone about something?" Flynn whispered. It, of course, had the exact opposite effect of what he was probably looking for, and everyone present watched them with interest.  
  
"Uh oh," Yuri said, giving him a doubtful look. "What are you mad about now?"  
  
Flynn shook his head. "I'm not mad about anything. I just wanted to talk to you."  
  
"Barely five minutes back and yer already in trouble with the commandant." Raven whistled and put his arms behind his head. "That's a new record for ya."  
  
"He's not in trouble," Flynn said, exasperation clear in his voice. "I just need to talk to him alone. Why is everyone assuming the worst?"  
  
"Past precedent," Yuri said sarcastically. "But all right, sure. I'm not in trouble. Let's talk."  
  
The two of them walked around to the other side of the Fierta, all eyes on their backs.  
  
"He's in so much trouble, isn't he?" Karol said at last, breaking the silence once the two had vanished around the ship.  
  
"Oh, absolutely," Judith said. She grinned at Estelle and Rita. "Do you two know what Flynn's upset about?"  
  
"It's not about Yuri himself," Estelle said. Rita sighed and elbowed her gently. "What?"  
  
"Now you've just admitted we know," Rita said. "They're never gonna get off our cases until we tell them."  
  
"Weren't we going to tell them eventually?"  
  
"Were we?"  
  
"That bad, huh," Raven said, rubbing his chin. "Yuri's not goin' ta jail, is he?"  
  
"It's not about Yuri," Estelle said, louder this time. "I mean, it is, but it's not his fault. Look, I— It's not my place to say anything. I should just— I should go check on them."  
  
She ran after Flynn and Yuri, Rita's shout of, "Don't follow her, you idiots!" trailing behind her. When she turned the corner around the Fierta, she found them standing a ways away, speaking in hushed tones. Slowly, she approached, not wanting to interrupt but wanting them to know she was there.  
  
"I don't see what the big deal is," Yuri said, looking more annoyed by Flynn than by the novel Flynn was holding out. "I mean, you know what people have been saying about us since practically forever. What's a fictional novel going to say about us that we haven't already heard?"  
  
"It's not just us," Flynn said, and even though his back was to Estelle, she could see how red the tips of his ears had gotten. "It's everything! They paralleled Alexei's betrayal, some of our ideological arguments, your insecurities—"  
  
"Hey."  
  
"It's too true to the real thing. The rumors were never like that." Flynn sighed and thrust the book under Yuri's nose. "Just look through it."   
  
Yuri batted the book away. "All right, I believe you. Don't make me suffer through whatever pulpy writing is in there. So we have someone writing about us and it's more accurate than you expected. And they know some details that aren't commonly known. What should we do about it?"  
  
Estelle now stood next to Flynn, and he acknowledged her with the briefest of glances before returning his focus to Yuri. "I'm concerned by how they've obtained this information. Unless someone among us happens to be moonlighting as this Sue D'Plume — a possibility I've not struck out — there's someone out there who knows far more than they should. I can't get the knights to investigate this on a whim, and frankly, I don't really want this novel getting spread around more than it has been. The Blooming Love Writer's Guild is a guild, though. Can't you ask around about them?"  
  
Yuri's eyes suddenly went wide with panic. "Did you just say 'Blooming Love Writer's Guild'?"  
  
Estelle watched in rapt, horrified fascination as the distressed expression on Flynn's face smoothly transformed into aggravation and a hint of fury. "Yuri," he said calmly, "did you do this?"  
  
Yuri turned his head to the side. "Not...exactly."  
  
"What do you mean," Flynn continued in his terrifyingly calm tone of voice, "'not exactly'?"  
  
"Here's the thing," Yuri said, "Brave Vesperia can't be picky about our jobs all the time. We got a job from Blooming Love to tell them some details we'd be comfortable sharing about our adventures, and I might have sat down with one of them, had a lot of beers, and rambled for a while." More quietly, he muttered, "Didn't know they were going to turn it into a romance, though."  
  
Flynn looked like he was seconds away from bludgeoning Yuri to death with the book. Estelle reached slowly towards him and grabbed the book slowly being crumpled by his grip. She pulled on it gently and said in what she hoped was a calm and persuasive tone of voice: "Flynn. Please give me the book. It doesn't deserve to be treated this way."  
  
Flynn let go of the book, but that also had the effect of him taking a step towards Yuri. "What did you tell them? What did you say about us?"  
  
"I barely spoke about us," Yuri shouted, turning to look at Flynn and staring him down. "I mean, I might have mentioned you a couple of times, but only in the sense that you were there and I kicked your ass once. It's not my fault that the writer took a couple of my comments and ran with it."  
  
"Ran with it?! They wrote an entire novel about it!"  
  
"Hey, it's not my fault you're a pain in the ass and they took that  _literally_."  
  
Flynn stopped, sputtered, and then turned scarlet. "That wasn't—" he began to say, then coughed and started again. "Finn wasn't—"  
  
Yuri suddenly sported the smuggest grin Estelle had ever seen on him, which was saying something. "Woah, woah, wait. Did I — or whoever I'm supposed to be in that book — top?! Is that what happened?!"  
  
Flynn opened his mouth to say something, but Judith beat him to the punch.  
  
"My goodness, what an interesting conversation to have walked in on," she said, leaning against the Fierta with an amused smirk. Everyone else was standing nearby as well, expressions ranging from entertained to perturbed, and Estelle groaned and hid her face behind the book. That proved to be a mistake, because before she knew it, Patty grabbed it out of her hands and ran back to Judith.  
  
"Is that what happened with that job," Karol asked Yuri, standing away from the others with Rita and looking at the book as if it could curse him if he approached. "I was wondering how useful you could've been drunk out of your mind like that."  
  
Flynn still, it seemed, could not speak in full sentences. "You knew— How many—"  
  
"I was the only one there, relax," Yuri said. "Or maybe don't. Maybe it would've been better if someone was with me."  
  
"No," Judith said as she, Patty, and Raven, stood around the book, all three of them skimming through it, "this is great. I'm glad you went alone."   
  
Raven threw one hand theatrically into the sky while he clutched his chest with the other. "'Yorick's smile shone through the grime and blood, and on that messy battlefield, Finn forgot about the pain, the devastation, the living hell he was in and saw only that smile. It was light. Salvation. Hope.' Ah, ta be young and in love." He sniffed and wiped away an imaginary tear. "No wonder this stuff gets popular."  
  
"That's not— Please don't—" Flynn tried and failed to say.  
  
"Okay, but where's the smut?" Patty cried, flipping ahead towards the end. "Books like these don't get that popular without it."  
  
"No!" Flynn cried, and it was a complete sentence, Estelle supposed.   
  
The three standing over the novel got to the raunchy bits soon enough. Raven's eyes went wide and he stepped back from the novel. "Yikes. That stuff's explicit. I'm all for good fun, but I ain't into reading about people I know knockin' the ol' ball and sticks together."  
  
Patty whistled. "That's  _filthy_!"  
  
"It certainly is," Judith said, tone of voice and expression both equally blasé. "What a surprise. I wasn't expecting it to be so detailed."  
  
Flynn finally got back the ability to speak in full sentences with multiple words. He buried his face in his hands. "Why is this happening to me?"  
  
"Come on, guys," Karol said, looking pained, "we had plans other than this."   
  
"You're right." Judith snapped the book shut and tucked it under her arm, heedless of Patty's protests. "Weren't we all going to get something to eat? Let's pick a place and continue our little reading session there."  
  
"Why do we have to keep reading that," Karol whined, but he still followed after her. Patty and Raven did as well, leaving only Estelle, Rita, Flynn, Yuri, and Repede, who looked to be sunning his belly out on the grass.  
  
Rita looked Estelle in the eye. "We really need to find less shitty friends."  
  
"I'm sorry," Estelle said. It was meant mostly for Flynn, who still had his face covered. "I never meant for it to get this out of hand."  
  
"It isn't your fault, Lady Estellise," Flynn said, voice muffled by his gauntlets. "You are blameless in all of this. You, however," he added, dropping his hands and glaring at Yuri, "are not."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Yuri said, not looking too concerned as he spun Flynn around and frog marched him into following Judith and the others. "Now come on. You can't do damage control if you're not there."  
  
Estelle watched them leave, Repede trailing after them. She looked at Rita.  
  
"I'm serious," Rita said, walking towards her before wrapping an arm around her waist. "We need better friends."  
  
Estelle sighed and buried her face into Rita's shoulder.  
  
  
— — —   
  


Nearly half a year later, everyone had pretty much forgotten about  _The Spark of Fury_ , Estelle included. That was probably why when she found herself back in The Whispered Word, she asked one of the workers there for a recommendation.  
  
"Oh, yes," the clerk said, pulling off a book from the new arrivals shelf. "The author of  _The Spark of Fury_  wrote another book! Not the sequel, mind," she added as Estelle internally screamed, "but a completely different one off novel. It's about a legendary pirate queen who loses an important memory of her youth after an accident. She then encounters a dark, mysterious rogue during an expedition. The two end up travelling together to uncover a secret about her past, and end up falling in love along the— Your Highness? Are you okay?"  
  
"Yes, thank you, I'm good," Estelle said, then ran out the store before she could burst into laughter. 


End file.
